PEOPLE v. POLITE

ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.

The defendant's claim that his presence was required at a sidebar conference is unpreserved for appellate review (cf., People v. Gray, 86 N.Y.2d 10,18). In any event, his presence was not required since the purpose of the conference was to enable the court to make rulings as to the relevance of a proposed line of questioning by the prosecutor, whether the prosecutor had a good faith basis for her proposed line of questioning, and how to minimize any prejudice to the defendant arising from the questioning. As the sidebar conference concerned purely legal matters, no right was violated by the defendant's absence therefrom (see, People v. Dickerson, 87 N.Y.2d 914, 915; People v. Rodriguez, 273 A.D.2d 415, 416).

The defendant's remaining contentions, including those raised in his supplemental pro se brief, are also without merit.

S. MILLER, J.P., LUCIANO, SCHMIDT and CRANE, JJ., concur.